HOW WE MADE OUR FIRST 1K IN SALES IN OUR FIRST 30 DAYS OF OPERATIONS: A Thread

Hey! Welcome to The Incense Plug! We are an artisan incense black woman owned company based in New York City.

SHOP: http://www.theincenseplug.com 

Let's begin with how we became an LLC in 1 week. To begin this process our 23 year old CEO, Winter ( @lilsnowbabe) filed for the LLC on May 18th, 2020 and was approved the same day.

How do you file for an LLC in New York State?: Thankfully, you can do the entire process online, even publishing your LLC can be done online! In New York State it cost $200 to apply for a DOMESTIC LLC and there is an additional $50 fee for the Certificate of Publication

that you must do within 120 days after the LLC is granted. AND you pay $20 to reserve the name. so it's about $270 in total to file for an LLC in New York State.

Step 1: Application for Reservation of Name Domestic and Foreign Limited Liability Companies

An individual or an domestic or foreign limited liability company may reserve a limited liability company name for use at a later date by filing an Application for Reservation of Name

pursuant to Section 205 of the New York State Limited Liability Company Law. The filing of an Application for Reservation of Name will reserve a name for 60 days. The filing receipt entitled “Certificate of Reservation”

issued by the New York Department of State for the filing of the Application for Reservation of Name must be submitted and filed with the document to which the Application for Reservation of Name is applicable.

The completed Application for Reservation of Name, together with the statutory filing fee of $20, should be forwarded to the New York Department of State, Division of Corporations, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231.

Two extensions of 60 days each are granted to applicants who submit a Request for Extension of Reservation of Name prior to the expiration of the current reservation. The fee to file a Request for Extension of Reservation of Name is $20.

The filing receipt entitled “Certificate of Reservation” issued by the New York Department of State for an Application for Reservation of Name must accompany any request to extend the name reservation.

An Application for Reservation of Name may be cancelled prior to the expiration of the current reservation. The fee to file a Request for Cancellation of Reservation of Name is $20.

The filing receipt entitled “Certificate of Reservation” issued by the Department of State must accompany the request to cancel the name reservation.

The New York Department of State has prepared instructions for forming a limited liability company that have been designed to make the filing as easy as possible.

The completed Articles of Organization, together with the filing fee of $200, should be forwarded to the New York Department of State, Division of Corporations, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231.

They really did make filing as easy as possible -- LINK: https://www.dos.ny.gov/corps/llccorp.html#artorg

Step 3: Certificate of Publication Domestic Limited Liability Companies

Section 206 of the New York State Limited Liability Company Law requires that within 120 days after the effectiveness of the initial articles of organization, a limited liability company (LLC) must publish

Step 3 is incredibly important! Do not forget this step! This step IS NOT REQUIRED IN EVERY STATE!!!! It is, as of June 26th, 2020 REQUIRED in the state of New York.

STEP 3 (cont.): in two newspapers a copy of the articles of organization or a notice related to the formation of the LLC. The newspapers must be designated by the county clerk of the county in which the office of the LLC is located, as stated in the articles of organization.

After publication, the printer or publisher of each newspaper will provide you with an affidavit of publication. A Certificate of Publication, with the affidavits of publication of the newspapers attached, must be submitted to the

New York Department of State, Division of Corporations, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231. The fee for filing the Certificate of Publication is $50.

HOW TO DO STEP 3: https://www.dos.ny.gov/forms/corporations/1708-f.pdf

You have to MAIL all of this information in and that cost money as well. You definitely want to send it express priority with insurance...

Okay nooooooooooow stack up your $350 (there are some other fees) and go apply for that LLC as soon as you're ready!

YOU CAN FILE FOR YOUR LLC ONLINE: https://www.businessexpress.ny.gov/app/answers/cms/a_id/2443/kw/domestic%20LLC

This application is for New York State

New York is one of three states that still requires newly-formed Limited Liability Companies to publish an announcement of their formation in two local newspapers once a week for six weeks in a row

PLEASE!! FOR STEP 3: Be sure you CALL the New York COUNTY CLERK offices to be ASSIGNED the TWO NEWSPAPERS that your LLC must publish with (you do not get to decide and the fees range from $100 to $1,200 to do this

it all depends on the newspaper you are assigned by the county clerk

HONESTLY: Have like $700 ready when filing for an LLC in New York State --- I say this mostly because of how expensive it can be to publish your LLC in New York State.

Now, let's get into the story of The Incense Plug LLC

WHAT IS THE INCENSE PLUG LLC?: The Incense Plug is a luxury incense brand founded by me. The Incense Plug was founded as a way for me to fund my grant for Spelman College students. The Ernest Baxter Jr. Grant named for my 80 year old grandfather

awards an enrolled Spelman College junior or senior with a grant of $250 every month. 10% of EVERY order made at http://theincenseplug.com/about-1  goes towards funding the grant.

After I was approved for my LLC on May 18th, 2020, I received a letter in the mail on May 22nd, 2020 with a form enclosed for me to fill out and return to the State of New York to update my information for Tax Purposes as I now will begin paying taxes for the first time

DO NOT EVER PAY FOR YOUR EIN NUMBER!
YOUR EIN NUMBER IS FREE!
DO NOT EVER PAY FOR YOUR EIN NUMBER!
YOUR EIN NUMBER IS FREE!
DO NOT EVER PAY FOR YOUR EIN NUMBER!
YOUR EIN NUMBER IS FREE!
DO NOT EVER PAY FOR YOUR EIN NUMBER!
YOUR EIN NUMBER IS FREE!

I never had an income high enough to need to file taxes before but from here on out I will as I am a business owner and my company with be a six figure company and eventually a SEVEN to EIGHT FIGURE COMPANY.

I did not apply for my EIN (Employer Identification Number) // Federal Tax Identification Number until AFTER I applied for my LLC and was approved. You do not need to apply for an EIN before your LLC and it's mostly suggested that you do it after.

You want to apply for your EIN soon after being approved for your LLC. Do try and apply for your EIN within 2 weeks of being approved for your LLC. You can apply for your EIN online at: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/apply-for-an-employer-identification-number-ein-online

After 26 products sold and 23 transactions my site generated a revenue of $1,480 after 1 MONTH of being open. My profit was $1k !!!

I freaking LOVE incense and am so glad everyone else is enjoying them as much as I am. I am so thankful to my FIRST 23 customers! They're amazing!

CUSTOMER REVIEWS: Video by @notbbyplantain

Let’s talk some more about PUBLISHING YOUR LLC IN NEW YORK STATE: My LLC was filed in the county of Manhattan. That means the newspapers that publish my LLC need to be in Manhattan // New York City.

Here’s what I had to do:

Call the business office in the county clerk: 646-386-5939

You’ll be told to send an email and they’ll provide with that (it depends on your county)

You need to include your LLC filing receipt and state that you need TWO newspapers to publish your LLC

If the number above doesn’t work the alerts are number is 646-386-5956

You will need to send an email to: [email protected] and be sure you attached your filing receipt in the email